The Senses of Christmas
by CrowNoYami
Summary: Part of The Silver, Golden Boy How does one show someone they care about that Christmas can be made special, just for them? even when the holidays have long past? How does one make up for years of not being there? Salazar manages to show Harry just fine


**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Harry Potter, I only own Eric Tenshia and the idea for this story.**

**A/N: ****This is a Christmas one-shot based off of my on-going story The Silver, Golden Boy. If you haven't read that then this is pretty useless although you can probably figure it out. **

**The Senses of Christmas**

It had been several weeks since he had met Eric Tenshia and Harry couldn't have been happier where he was. His training had increased along with his physical abilities, and when he falls asleep no longer was he the victim of any nightmares or visions but instead the only one to be able to speak to Salazar Slytherin in over one thousand years. In his waking hours he spent most of his time building his body for what he knew would come, although when night fell he would end up using that strength to take the lives of others on orders.

Through the pain both physically and mentally, Harry managed to see a silver lining. Now he could proudly claim that he was known for something that he chose to do, not something that was chosen for him. Best of all he now had a best friend that he knew would never betray him in a any way, a friend that he had trusted his life to more then once. Best of all however was his relationship with Salazar.

Having never been properly taught personally by someone, Harry hadn't known what to expect when he first started to speak to Salazar inside of his mind at night. Eventually however they got to know eachother, even trust eachother to the degree that although not in his physical body it was Salazar that Harry had given himself to willingly. Salazar was a part of his life, he was a part of his soul and so long as there was something that Harry could learn from the ancient man he would remain that way.

It was during once such times that Harry found himself sitting in his mental library, reading over more of Defence Against the Dark Arts when Salazar showed up behind him. Having been able to contact Salazar for a month now, Harry didn't tense but leaned into the older man as he felt arms wrap around him. Leaning his head back against Salazars' shoulder, Harry sighed contently at the man.

After a few moments of just enjoying each others' warmth, Salazar moved to pull Harry up from his spot on the floor with the books surrounding him. Curious, Harry allowed Salazar to lift him up before suddenly a piece of fabric was tied around his eyes. Startled but now scared Harry opened his mouth to protest when a finger was placed against it and there was a gentle tug at his hand.

Playing along, Harry closed his mouth and followed the original Slytherin blindly, although a bit slower than usual as not wanting to run into anything even with Salazar guiding him. With a few twists and turns Harry finally felt Salazar stop and halted his feet as well. When nothing happened, Harry went to take off the blindfold but a hand stopped him. Waiting for a moment to give Salazar a chance to explain, Harry was only met with silence, giving up Harry opened his mouth once again when he felt a soft whisper against his ear.

"Smell"

Blinking behind the blindfold, Harry obeyed, taking a deep breath through his nose he let the difference scents consume him. He could recognize most of them, he found… there was the smell of something, either a chicken or turkey that had just been cooked a bit distantly off to the side. In front of him was another scent he knew from when he used to run away into the forest around his muggle school… the scent of pine. None of that compared to the scent of Salazar however, he smelt of a light sandalwood and musk that was truly him.

Gently Harry felt a warmth from around his hand as he was lead away again from where he had been standing. The closer he got to wherever they were going the warmer it got, although pleasantly so. The warmth seemed comforting and peaceful although he had no idea what it was. Once again a soft voice spoke up against his ear while his hand was taken into Salazars and moved towards the warmth.

"Feel"

Focusing on his hand, Harry managed to block mostly everything else out and focus on the feeling of the warmth. He knew what this came from, it was the same as he would feel when sitting in his chair in the common room. The way that the warmth was constant but moving slightly made him picture a moving flame… a candle.

Before he could say anything, Harry was once again dragged by his hand somewhere else that he couldn't see although he was starting to enjoy this game a bit. With secure arms around him, Harry was lowered down to sit on something soft. Before he could steady himself properly another word was spoken.

"Touch"

As his hand was released, Harry let them fall to find out that it was indeed a chair he was sitting on. Moving his fingers on the armrest he could feel a soft fabric against his finger tips. The chair felt like a mix between velvet and some kind of plush material. Leaning back against the chair, he could tell that whatever it looked like it was good enough to sleep on should he stay there too long without being able to see.

Suddenly he could smell the scent of the cooked bird much more now, it was as if it was almost up to his face. Leaning back slightly more against the chair, Harry wondered what Salazar was doing when what he assumed to be the meat was pressed lightly against his lips.

"Taste"

Opening his mouth, Harry let Salazar feed him the strip of meat, chewing it he found that it tasted wonderful. The meat had been cooked perfectly and he could tell that it was his favourite section, the leg. After swallowing Harry could feel another piece against his lips which he also happily ate although a bit more enthusiastically this time.

After several pieces of meat Salazar stopped feeding him and instead moved a few steps away that Harry could barely hear from where he was sitting. There were several small sounds that he couldn't make out happening from off to his right but Harry didn't bother asking, he knew that if he spoke the game would be over and he wanted to know what this was about.

"Listen"

With that a soft piano melody started to come from the right of him, Harry didn't know if Salazar was playing himself or if it was magic but it was beautiful. Closing his eyes although there was no physical difference, he allowed himself to get lost into the music, allowing it to roll off all the stress he had from the past few weeks. When the piano stopped, Harry almost whimpered when footsteps were heard lightly again before more music started playing although this time Harry knew it was magic.

As the magical music kept playing, Harry didn't hear the soft footfalls of Salazar and was slightly surprised when the man touched his shoulders lightly. Eventually giving into the touch Harry smiled as he leaned back only to have those hands leave his shoulders.

"See"

A second latter the blindfold was gone from his eyes and Harry blinked a few times to get used to the dull light when the sight before him made him gasp. Standing in front of Harry was a beautiful Christmas tree, it was medium height and fully decorated with muggle items such as lights and orbs. On the top was a wonderful golden star that was shinning brightly like the rest of the lights. Looking away from the tree, Harry could see a table made up with soft red tablecloth and a chicken fully cooked on the table along with bowls which had what he suspected potatoes and other food inside along with an ice bucket, two wine-glasses and a bottle of what he suspected to be very good wine.

To the right of him was indeed a piano, a baby-grand piano and the cover was up making Harry know for sure that Salazar had indeed played for him. Instead of magic like he thought there was a muggle CD player playing the classical music through the room. Last but not least were the candles that were giving the room a soft glow, all in all it was terribly romantic and looked like a perfect Christmas from some kind of movie or catalogue.

Turning to look at Salazar Harry remembered how they had spoken about what it was Harry wanted as a late birthday present. Having been allowed to leave the Dursleys, there wasn't anything else he ever wanted for his birthday. Having spoken about them, Salazar had asked about what it was like there, in which Harry answered honestly and explained his life… what had stuck out to Salazar however was the fact that never had Harry had a Christmas made special just for him.

It was true that after Hogwarts came he had a much better time during the holidays but never had anyone gone through much trouble such as decorating a tree or making dinner to me _Harry_ happy. With a soft smile on his face and a few tears in his eyes, Harry pressed his lips against Salazars' for only a moment before pulling back. This time he was allowed to speak.

"Thank you"

Pressing his lips once again against Harrys', Salazar smiled against the younger mans lips before he pulled back to look into his eyes softly. Never before had Salazar seen such a wonderful person, had he been alive and more than just a soul to help the young man he wondered if it could have been, but the fates must have something else in store for the young man. With his voice barely a whisper, Salazar spoke to the young man.

"For all the ones I've sadly missed…. Happy Christmas, my dear snake."


End file.
